![]() "Lactariologists" have developed a suite of characters that are used in milky cap identification-but many of these characters demonstrate considerable variability, so you will definitely need to collect several fresh mushrooms, representing different stages of development, to get very far in identifying most of these mushrooms. Over 200 species have been described from North America, and the reigning monograph (Hesler & Smith, 1979) is a bear to work with. Identification of milky caps ranges from very easy to very difficult. Many species (though certainly not all) have caps that feature concentric zones of color, and many have caps and/or stems that feature tiny potholes ("scrobiculi" in Mycologese). A few mushrooms in other genera exude a juice (for example, Mycena haematopus) but most of these lack the other features that help to define the milky caps: crumbly flesh, like the flesh of russulas (to which milky caps are closely related) and caps that are often about as wide as the mushroom is tall. ![]() In other species the milk can be scanty to almost nonexistent-especially in older specimens that have grown in dry weather. In some species the milk is copious, and it almost seems to pour out of the mushroom when you slice it or damage the gills. The milky caps, mushrooms in the genera Lactarius and Lactifluus, make up a large group of mycorrhizal mushrooms that exude a "latex," or milk, when injured. ![]() Lactarius (MushroomExpert.Com) Major Groups > Gilled Mushrooms > Pale-Spored> > Milky Caps ![]()
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